Not The Best Of Friends
by gypsy star
Summary: The story takes place during WW11. A definite Sorato. Please R/R.


Disclaimer-Bite me.  
  
A/N-I got the inspiration for this fic off of the  
beginning of the X-Men movie. [Storm rules!]  
A/N2- Crystal Dragon and I wrote this together I, therefore, give her credit for the middle and whatever else she may have written.   
  
Surviving Hell may lead you to Heaven  
  
  
After I learned what he really meant,  
I forever regretted doing what I had done to Matt and Tai. In 1940, I had been a little crazy. My life was literally hell, except for the eternal fire of course.   
My parents had just been called to serve in the war, but I was old  
enough to take care of myself, sort of. I had been sent to a camp for kids  
whose parents were at war. There I met my first and only love, Matt Ishida.  
From then on nothing was the same. That year, I also met Tai. Little did I know, he was the answer to my question, and the start of my problems.   
  
Soon, I was old enough (to our "counselors") to meet the boys and learn, who our future partners would be. I was assigned to Tai. As hard as I tried, I just couldn't love him. Unfortunately, he was the exact opposite. My heart belonged to Matt, and he knew it. He was assigned to a friend of mine, Marie. One night, long after the children had been shown to their cabins, we were talking, and Matt admitted to me that he was in love, I was heartbroken. I thought he meant he loved Marie, not me. Boy was I ever wrong.   
  
Sora, I just want to tell you that I have loved you since I first saw you last year, and I just want you to know that no matter what Marie says or thinks, she will never, ever take the place of you.  
  
Oh Matt, I wish we could just switch partners, or run away or something. I don't know what to do. I'm so confused.  
  
"Why Sora? All we have to do is leave."  
"I wouldn't be so sure about that Matt. You have no idea how hard it will  
be to break out of here. If anybody knew what we were planning, we'd be separated, punished, put to work, or worse..."  
  
"Shh, Sora, I think someone's coming."  
  
As Tai approached, he saw Matt and I talking. And he flipped out.  
  
"Sora, what the hell are you doing with this...this bastard!!"   
  
"It's not what you think Tai. Don't you remember what I said to you this  
morning? Didn't you know that Matt and I have been friends for almost forever"   
  
"...So, you shouldn't be with him at this time of the night. You weren't  
chosen for him, you were chosen for me. Anyway, what does he have that I don't?"   
"Charisma, a real heart, and good looks Tai. I yelled back at him.  
"Really Tai, you know that you have never been the same since that incident with Mimi."  
  
  
"No, that was not me, Matt, you know it was Scott."   
  
"Nice try Tai, but this time you didn't hit a home run."   
"Matt! Tai!" I exclaimed, "You know that you shouldn't be talking that  
way when you're near children. Suddenly, footsteps could be heard.  
"Guys, shut up!" I whispered. "We'll be found out!" We all got into bed.{A/N~ I know what ur thinking, and u have a SICK MIND!! (btw, everyone here has a different bed.)} My bed was in between Tai and Matt's [coincidental, isn't it?]. My hand was hanging over the edge of my bed and I felt Matt take it and squeeze it reassuringly. I fell asleep not long after.   
  
Remember how I had said my life was literally hell before? I lied. My life a few years after topped the qualifications for hell on earth. Matt's parents had come back from the war and he had been sent home. We wrote constantly, and that  
helped ease the pain. But then, Hitler came to power. Concentration camps were  
approved. My parents had died at war and I was sent to a concentration camp.   
Over the next five plus years I endured probably every possible punishment. Whipped, beat, stoned, starved, you name it I had probably experienced it. I was overworked, underfed, and constantly missing Matt. I felt like there was a hole in my heart. A Matt-shaped hole. But anyway, I was as skinny as a rail, constantly tired, lovesick, and on the verge of developing a flu. There was an infirmary, but that was only for people who became so sick they couldn't work anymore. Of course, if you got sick enough, they would shoot you if they thought it could get worse.   
  
I had a friend there; Aurora was her name. I was able to tell her all my  
secrets. Tell her how much I missed Matt, and what I really thought about these concentration camps. She told me the same. We were each other's confidantes. But then, Aurora got sick. She caught a cold that had been going around and it escalated to the flu. The flu even became pneumonia. They shot her when she complained about her constant headaches. They figured she would never get better. It is my belief that, with proper care, she would have. But did they care about that? No, of course not. All they cared about was having people they  
could beat nearly to death, starve, and whatever else their sickly twisted minds  
could think of.   
  
Now, I was alone. Totally and completely alone. No one to talk to, no shoulder to cry silently against, and it sucked, because it truly was hell on earth.   
  
[3 years later]  
  
I had decided. In one week, I was going to run away. I didn't care what it cost me. I had to get out or I was going to die before I was 30.   
  
Within that week, I made my plans. I was going to pack all my stuff and wrap it in a cloth. The bundle would be stuffed under my arm. I would either get out by digging a hole under the fence, or climbing over the gate. Marie and I had thought of this together. She was deeply in love with Tai. That was a good thing. If she had been in love with Matt, I don't want to think about what might have happened.   
  
That Sunday, we set off. Based on a map Marie had stolen from one of  
the overseers, and the letters I had kept from Matt [we weren't allowed to  
receive mail in the concentration camps], we had to go straight west for about  
75 miles, then go north for 100 more miles when we reached a pair of intersecting railroad tracks. From there, we were supposed to follow the railroad tracks until we reached a river, cross the river, and go north for about 15 more miles and we would reach the town where Matt and Tai currently lived, Johannesberg. I had stolen a trough from the gardener to help us with digging the hole. It would be slower, yes, but I didn't care. I was so naïve.   
  
On the fourth night of our travels, Marie and I got to talking about how much we missed Tai and Matt.  
  
"I miss Tai." She said out of nowhere when we were preparing to go to sleep for a short time.  
"I know the feeling." I muttered. I was very sleepy then.   
"No, I mean, I feel like there's this hole in me that only he can fill."   
  
I was more awake now. "Marie, I know how you feel. I've felt like that ever since Matt and I were separated. It really hurts, I know. Just keep telling yourself you'll see him soon. That's what's worked with me. Now come on, we've gotta get some sleep. Daylight's in a few hours. We set off then."  
  
"Okay. Thanks, Sora."   
  
We fell asleep not soon after.   
  
It took us about a month to reach the railroad tracks. After a brief  
celebration, which involved us sleeping later than usual, we continued on.   
  
  
Marie and I were talking a lot more now. Not as much as we would have liked, but enough to let us know that the other was still there. We were almost caught a couple of times and only just got away once. We slept in tree trunks, under trees, wherever we would be concealed enough to not have to worry about getting caught in our sleep.   
  
One night though, we were almost caught for good. Marie had fallen  
asleep before me and I was lying awake restless. Suddenly, a beam of light cut through the trees. A flashlight. Someone was searching for something. Us.  
  
"Marie," I whispered, shaking her awake, "Marie, quick, wake up."   
"What is it, Sora?" she said sleepily. "Someone's searching for us." I  
whispered urgently, "We've gotta get out of here as fast as we can."   
"How do you know?" I explained the beam of light cutting through the trees and suddenly, the cry of a hunting hound split the night air.   
"Oh, shit." Muttered Marie.   
  
We took off at a run. Dodging trees, snapping branches, going as quietly as we could through bushes and tall grass. We reached a river and jumped in. It was a wide river and the water, I figured, would leave the hounds cold at the beginning of the river. My biggest fear, I now admit, was that the hounds would figure out that we had crossed the river, and continue to follow us. Getting out of the river, we lost no speed. We continued to run until the bawling of the  
hounds were mere whispers carried on the wind.   
  
Marie and I sank down behind a large tree, panting heavily.   
  
"That was so scary." Marie said breathlessly.   
"I was afraid we would get caught. Then, this fear just took control of me and that's when I woke up, and realized we were being followed. I didn't stop running until we got here." I replied.   
  
We caught a few hours of sleep and continued on our journey.   
  
It took us about 2 weeks to find Johannesberg. Once there, we had to ask  
the locals if they knew where Matt and Tai lived. It turned out they lived on different sides of town. Marie and I parted in the center of the city. Both of us destined for the true love, which had so long been denied to us by that bastard Hitler.  
  
"Good luck, Marie." I said before we parted. And thank you."   
"You too, Sora. Good luck. Thanks for coming with me."   
  
  
We hugged and parted forever. Or so I thought. I began my journey to the west end of town. It was only about 10 miles and compared to what I had been traveling, this was nothing. But I was tired and decided to stop at an inn for the night so I could rest and eat some good food. I told the landlady my story and she was so sympathetic that she let me have a room and food for free. That was a good thing, as I didn't have any money.   
  
[Next morning]  
  
  
I started out early the next morning and reached Matt's house in an hour. I knocked on the door and the maid answered.   
  
"Yes?" she said crisply.   
"Is Mr. Ishida home?"   
"Sora Takenouchi. He'll know me."  
"Yes. Please come in and wait in the parlor.   
  
I nodded and the maid led me into the parlor. Taking a seat in one of the armchairs, I waited nervously. I was excited, yet, I don't know why, but I  
was just a little nervous. Total bliss was coming. I knew it, but I still couldn't calm myself. It was all from being so excited. I stood and looked  
around the room. It really was beautiful. Oil paintings of flowers and things like that hung on every wall. A huge fireplace stood at one end of the room.   
I was admiring a particular painting of a fawn amongst a bed of flowers when I heard someone enter the room.   
  
Sora?" he said softly.  
  
I turned toward him. It was a sight to behold. Compared to me, at least, Matt could have passed for a supermodel. I was still really thin, dirty, and my hair was a mess. He, on the other hand, looked well fed, clean and his hair was shiny and hadn't changed a bit since I last saw him nearly 9 years ago.  
  
I ran to him and we hugged. This was what I had been waiting for. This was the heaven that had been waiting for me ever since I escaped the concentration camp with Marie. I said in the beginning my life was literally hell, but now, it was like I was on an elevator shuttling to heaven at the highest speed. We pulled back, and Matt leaned in and kissed me. I came to consciousness and began kissing him back. We didn't stop until a voice broke the silence.  
  
"Mr. Ishida, you have a visitor."  
  
I was blushing redder than a tulip, but Matt managed to pull himself together. "Who is it, Mildred?" he said. He looked calm, but I could sense his embarrassment at being found out by his maid.   
  
"A Miss Sora Takenouchi."  
"Um...Mildred...She's right here."  
"Oh, of course sir. I will get back to my duties."  
"Don't mind her Sora, she's a little slow on the uptake...She doesn't speak English very well either"   
  
"Oohh, understood."  
  
"Well, How about if I give Tai a call, and he and that Marie girl can come over, and you both can tell us about how you got here."   
  
  



End file.
